Like a mommy blog. Except I'm not a mommy. And it's about extreme DIY and homesteading. And food, food, food. And gardening in fishnets. And moonshine makin'. And the fine mess I've gotten us into this time. So not at all like a mommy blog. Ok, you know what, just read the damn blog.

Pumpkin Sage Ravioli, or, The Mother is So Bad She’s Good

Not only does The Mother only hear what she wants to hear…she also sets up one-way dialogs that preclude me from getting in the way of that delicious little fantasy!

Here is the transcript of a voicemail The Mother left on my cell phone.

*::beeeeeep::* “Genny?…Genny, it’s your mother! Hi!”
<6 second pause> “So I was wondering if you would want to go with The Aunt and me to the Church craft fair. Would you?”
<6 second pause> “And I also wanted to know if you wanted to come on up and check my email for me because I joined the Mr. Food fan club and now I’m getting regular updates from him! Isn’t that ‘the coolest’? I’m going to get emails all the time! With free recipes! So I’ll be needing somebody to help me check my email every day! Maybe twice, just in case Mr. Food forgets something and wants to talk to us all again. Okay?”
<6 second pause> “Okay, love you, bye bye!” *::beeeeeeep::*

All this time I thought she didn’t understand how voicemail worked. Now I get it: she refuses to understand. Genius.

But back to ravioli.

These are great because you don’t have to finish cooking them the day you make them–I like to make the dough and filling on day 1, assemble the ravioli on day 2…and then stick ‘em in the freezer, put on my best tutu, and order pizza.

Anyway, pull a few of these outta the freezer any time you wanna feel fancy without shaving your legs. Use this recipe with whatever sauce you like, but I think heavy tomato-based sauces overwhelm pumpkin. Cream sauces are popular (think gorgonzola or walnut cream), but I tend to keep things simple by heating some butter until it browns, stirring in some fresh sage leaves or dried, ground sage, sprinkling in a little salt and pepper, and tossing in the cooked ravioli until everything is coated and warmed through.

Another thing me likey do: heat up some broth with a few vegetables and then cook the ravioli in it until they float. That’s a soup you won’t soon forget, punkins.

Unless you also likey makey the pumpkin winey. Then you forgetty everything!

Pulse the dry ingredients in the food processor. Then, with motor running, add the eggs, oil, and water. Process on and off (use the dough setting if you have one) until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 to 4 minutes. You may need to add a Tablespoon or two of flour if after that time the dough is still too tacky to be cohesive. If your food processor starts knocking around or starts to show signs of overheating, take out half the dough and process in two batches.) Now take out the dough and lightly cover it with a towel to rest for half an hour. (Alternatively, you can divide the dough into four balls, wrap them in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.)

Meanwhile, prep the filling (recipe below).

Line several cookie sheets with kitchen towels and lightly dust them with flour.

Divide the dough into four chunks if you haven’t already, dust each with flour, and run them through the pasta maker one at a time on progressively thinner settings until you have thin, smooth sheets. (Keep the rest of the dough covered while you’re working, and keep your work surface lightly-floured.)

Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of filling onto the pasta sheet at regularly spaced intervals about an inch apart in all directions.

Then moisten the edges all around the pasta sheet and the spaces around each mound with water. Lay another pasta sheet over the first one and carefully press the edges and in-between spaces to seal off each ravioli, trying as you go to minimize any air pockets in the filling.

Flour a knife or ravioli cutter (or, BMG style, a very clean pair of pinking shears) and carefully cut the ravioli apart. Press edges together where necessary and lay the ravioli onto the floured cookie sheets.

Now pop the cookie sheets into the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to help the ravioli hold together while cooking.

If you’d like to freeze your ravioli all the way, this is when you’d do it. Just wait for the ravioli to freeze solid and gently pack them into freezer bags–I recommend cushioning the layers with wax paper. If you’re planning on cooking these the same day, let them freeze for the 30-60 minute period, and then bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook ravioli until they float, about 4 minutes for fresh, and 5 for frozen solid. Gently spoon them out of the water and serve with your favorite sauce.

Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil until it’s tender and translucent. Set aside to cool. In a bowl, mix the pumpkin, cheeses, egg, spices, and salt and pepper, then mix in the cooled onion and garlic. Refrigerate until ready to use.

[...] the bitch to heal. She’s rarely missed a meal since that fateful day when I was making Pumpkin Sage Ravioli and started on the feral cat colony caretaker path of no return. I hoped she was just pissed off [...]